Abdominal baby band



June 17, 1930. E. H. WALTER ABDOMINAL BABY BAND Filed Aug; 50,

A TTORNEYS.

Patented June 17, 193i) EDWARD H. WALTER, F WOODLYNNE, NET/V JERSEY ABDOMINAL BABY BAND Application filed. August 30, 1928. Serial No. 302,929.

'As is well known to those skilled in the care of infants, the purpose of an abdominal band therefor is to support and retain in position the stomach, abdomen and other I '5 internal organs of the infant until the wound, occasioned by the severing of the umbilical cord has healed and all danger of umbilical-herniais past. It is therefore necessary that the band fit snugly about the body of the infantiin contact with and supporting every portion thereof. Bands for this purpose have frequently heretofore been made by tearing or cutting a piece offlannel or other heavy woven material 1 into strips of the'desired length and width, and the band so produced is -wrapped around the infants body between his hips and arms, and the strip is usually pinned or sewed in place, the pins or stitches being removed whenever it is desired to take off the band. The use of the pins or the needles incidental to the stitching of the band is liable to be productive of accidents, and except in the hands of the most careful persons have been a frequent source of serious injury to the infant. Moreover, where these fastening means are employed, it has been necessary to make the band of heavy and strong material to prevent the pins or stitches from becoming loose or from tearing the fabric. This heavy .material has been found in many instances damaging to the infantsskin, chafing and irritating it,

and rendering any movement of the infant wearer exceedingly painful. A band made fromsuch material is generally provided with a number of seams or darts in order to render it snugly fitting about all'portions of the body, and to enable it to supply 40 the necessary supportto the various organs. These darts and seams are, unless the band is carefully positioned, likely to press into the body and thereby produce an additional source of irritation and discomfort to the child;

'Mypresent invention relates to abdominal bands of the general character above described and more particularly to those adapted for use on newly'born babies, and consists'of a novel-longitudinally resilient band for this purpose, which is secured in pos1t1on by a non-elastic tab, having one member of a ball and socket fastenerthereon in connection with an elongated elastic the like to retain it in position upon the infant, and which while at all times fitting snugly to the body andsupplying the neeessary support to the muscles, will readily adapt itself to the movements of the infant without unduly confining or compressing the abdomen and the internal organs.

My invention further consists of a novel babys abdominal band which may be made of knitted or other soft light Weight material, which will stretch longitudinally to a considerable'extent and fit itself snugly about the body of the infant and furnish the support necessary for the organs without having formed therein the objectionable seams and darts hereinbefore described, and which will require no other fastening means than those permanently attached to the band to retain it in position, comprising an elongated elastic tape, provided with a ball and socket fastener, which tape is of sufficient length entirely to encircle the band when in positionand to exert an elastic or resilient binding pressure upon the band and infants body;

For the purpose of illustrating my invention, I have shown in the'accompanying drawings forms thereof which are at present preferred by me, since they will give in practice satisfactory and reliable results, al-

thouglrit is to beunderstood that thevvarious instrumentalities of which my invention consists can be variously arranged and organized and that .my invention is not limited to the precise arrangement and organization .of these instrumentalities as herein shown and described. 95,

Referring to the drawings:

Figure 1, represents a plan view of an o abdominal baby bandembodying my invention.

Figure 2, represents a view similanto 1'00 Figure l, but showing the band and its elastic tape in their distended condition.

Figure 3, represents a perspective View. showing the band and the fastening device, as the same appear while in position on the infant.

Similar numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts.

1 designates my novel construction of abdominal baby band, the same comprising the body portion2 of'textile material which is knitted or woven stretchable longitudinally and vertically so as to be self-adjusting without the employment of rubber in the fabric. The band insures a perfect fit at all times withoutthe use of pins or tapes with knots therein to cause discomfort. The band is porous and absorbent and sets in its proper position enclosing the infant and will not curl upon the edges, and being stretchable in all directions will conform to an infant of any shape or size. It can .be made from any suitable material as wool, worsted, cotton, silk, rayon or spun silk and will not fray or run when out but stays flat and retains its properties of stretching after washing and under all conditions of use.

In practice I make theedges of the band, convexed or curved and provide the same with stitching as indicated at 3, thereby giving a finished appearance to the device. At one end of the band I secure a non-elastic tab 4 and provide the same with the ball member 5 of a ball and socket fastener. I preferably secure the tape t to the band by a line of stitching 6 which may also be utilized to secure in place the juxtaposed end 7 of the elastic tape 8, whose outer end 9 is reinforced by a U-shaped non-elastic piece 10 of non-resilient fabric to which is attached the socket member 11 which is snapped upon the ball 5. Figure 2 shows the position the parts assume when stretched longitudinally and the elastic tape 8 is of such length that it will completely encircle the infants body,when.the band is in position thereon, as seen in Figure 3.

By theemployment of the snap fastener or ball and socket construction composed of the elements 5 and 11, I am enabled to dispense with non-elastic tapes and the bother vof tying and manipulating the same, which have heretofore been employed, since it is only necessary in my device, after the band is wrapped in position around the infants body, to wrap the elastic tape 8 around the same, as will be understood from Figure 3, after which the socket 11 is snapped upon the ball 5, the parts then appearing as seen in Figure 3. s

To position the band conforming to my invention about the body of the infant, it is only necessary that the band be made to enclrcle the body so that the smooth even surface of the inner slde be contiguous thereto, after which the elastic tape 8 is distended and brought around the body and its ends snapped together as seen in Figure 3.

The band may be constructed from fine woven or knitted material adapted of itself to confirm to the childs body without the necessity of providing objectionable darts or seams and without the use of stitches and pins and the like being required to retain it in position, it being only necessary that the material possess sufficient-strength to supply the necessary support to the body of the infant. The band is intended to be placed next the skin beneath the usual shirt or undergarment and is not intended to have the diaper or any part attached -to'it. A

band construct-ed in accordance with .my

invention will not slide up or down as .it will be firmly butresiliently held in position,

by the stretchabilityof the tape 8, andv may easily be applied or removed and may be adjusted to fit bodies of various-sizes. 1

It will be apparentthat by dispensing with tying cords or tyingtapes which have knots in them I dispense with such knots so that there are no objectionable protuberances immediately against the infanflslbody which are liable to press into the tender flesh of the infant to its annoyance, it'being apparent that the fixed nonelastic-tab :4 lies flat against the body of the fabric or strip 2.

I am aware that the invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential attributes thereof, and I therefore desire the present embodiment to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive reference being had to the appended claims rather than to the foregoing description to indicate the scope of the invention.

Having thus described my invention, what ters Patent, is r 1. In a device of the character-stated, an abdominal infants one piece band composed of longitudinally laterally stretchable textile I claim as new andvdesire to secure by Letmaterial, an elongated stretchable tape at stretchable, an elongated elastic tape at-' tached to one end thereof, a non-elastic tab also attached to the same end of the band the end stitching passing through both said tape and, tab, and a ball and socket fastener device having its members attached to' said 

